Timo Bernhard Grabs Utah Pole Ahead of De Ferran
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May 17, 2008
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Timo Bernhard stole the thunder from Gil de Ferran and de Ferran Motorsports at Miller Motorsports Park with a stunning pole position run for Porsche and Penske Racing in qualifying for the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels. Bernhard turned a lap of 1:31.050 (120.514 mph) in the Porsche RS Spyder he will share with Romain Dumas.
Bernhard edged out de Ferran, making his return to racing and debut in the American Le Mans Series, by 0.139 seconds. De Ferran, who last raced in 2003, nevertheless will start on the front row after a lap of 1:31.189 (120.330 mph) in the Acura ARX-01b he will drive with Simon Pagenaud.
“It was very thrilling,” said Bernhard, who is on pole for the 12th time in his Series career. “I didn’t plan it. I wanted to go out earlier but it worked out. I know Gil de Ferran is a great and successful race car driver. I didn’t know how much time they really had for testing and it’s really impressive they have come out here and be fast right out for the first time.”
Bernhard’s pole lap came on his final pass. He had pitted with about five minutes left for fuel and was given the option of calling it a day or taking on more fuel. He obviously made the right choice as he improved his time on each of his final three circuits.
“There were only four minutes left and if the tires were not so good on the out lap, I would just come back in,” Bernhard said. “But the first lap was very good and I knew the tires were very good. So during the next lap I picked my points that I knew I could improve on. I put everything together, had a great lap and thought that was the best I could do. Then I knew I had one more so I tried to push even more knowing I was already good. Then as I came across and was even better.”
The top five cars were from the LMP2 class as they took advantage of superior cornering abilities on the 3.048-mile, 15-turn circuit. Luis Diaz was third for Lowe’s Fernandez Racing and Acura, just 0.292 seconds behind Bernhard. Diaz will team with Adrian Fernandez.
In all, the first nine cars were separated by just 0.853 seconds. It was the tightest qualifying session ever seen in the Series.
“It is very good competition. It is what we always asked for, and now we have it,” Bernhard said. “I have never seen so many cars driving as fast as they can on the edge.”
Marco Werner was first in LMP1 for Audi Sport North America but sixth overall in the Audi R10 TDI he will drive with Lucas Luhr. Werner’s lap of 1:31.590 (119.803 mph) was enough for his ninth Series pole and put him a scant 0.207 seconds ahead of Frank Biela in the second diesel-powered Audi that also will be driven by Emanuele Pirro.
The Audis have been searching for its sweet spot throughout the weekend. At times, Werner almost sounded perplexed as the team tried a number of different solutions to find the right balance of straightline speed and handling in the corners.
“This weekend is very strange,” he said. “We have a lot more downforce than we’ve had before this year, which is not so good for us. I suggested my idea that we’re not going forward, let’s go back and try to take some downforce off. But during the qualifying run I went out for the first time with the new setup and it was hard to drive. I could feel the tires being used up and knew what I had done was going to be the best time I had.”
Luhr and Werner enter Miller Motorsports Park having won the last two overall races. And despite their overall position, all is not lost for Sunday’s race. The duo started sixth overall at Long Beach and still managed to post an impressive victory.
